Global communication networks such as the Internet are a global system of interconnected computer networks that transmit to and receive data from various points on the network. These global communication networks are comprised of millions of private and public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies. These networks carry various information resources and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer and file sharing, online gaming, and the inter-linked hypertext documents and other resources.
Today, common uses of global communication networks include electronic mail applications. The concept of sending electronic text messages between parties in a way analogous to mailing letters or memos predates the creation of the Internet. A second use is for remote access applications. These networks allow computer users to connect to other computers and information stares easily, wherever they may be across the world. The low cost and nearly instantaneous sharing of ideas, knowledge, and skills has made collaborative work dramatically easier. Not only can a group cheaply communicate and test, but the wide reach of the Internet allows such groups to easily form in the first place, even among niche interests. These networks provide a means for a computer file can be e-mailed to customers, colleagues and friends as an attachment. The Internet enables many existing radio and television broadcasters provide Internet “feeds” of their live audio and video streams. In addition, global networks provide a means for voice communications. There has been a recent increase in the use of these networks for telephone applications.
Global communication networks have provided a convenient vehicle to perform both personal and professional tasks. The heavy use of these networks for all types of tasks has created a dilemma in the workplace. In some instances, workers spend so much time on these communication networks, that personal productivity is impacted. As a result, many personal productivity websites and blogs recommend reducing the amount of website surfing you do by either shutting down your web browser or creating a script that detects 10 minutes or more of web browsing and reminds you that you should be working. While these solutions are good if you don't need to access the web for your actual work, they are not so good if you need to use the web to research problems, review documents or otherwise do your work.
Solutions exist that are used to limit how much of the web children can surf, (i.e. NetNanny). Similar filters are also in use in some corporations. This solution is different because it is built into the web browser and is configurable by the user for personal productivity purposes. It gives the individual control and allows for self-monitoring.
Web browsers currently have the concept of “profiles” but those profiles are limited in that they don't control the content that you can access and require a restart to switch from one profile (generally a user) to another. Some people use 2 different web browsers (IE and Firefox, for example) to set up “work” and “play” interfaces.